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If you’re like the vast majority of people, your spending will peak in your 40s and 50s, as you juggle expenses that range from the burdensome (a mortgage, rising health-insurance bills and your kids’ tuition) to the frivolous (that dream vacation, your midlife-crisis sports car). And chances are that by the time you’re 70, you and your spouse will be spending about 25% less per year than you did when you were 50. This spending gap has inspired a long-running debate among economists, with optimists saying that the spending drop is driven mostly by the life changes that come with leaving work (no more power suits, no more commuting) while the more dismal scientists advance a simpler argument – namely, that for many retirement-age people, money is uncomfortably tight.

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Best of all, it’s cheaper than commuting.

A new study comes down squarely on the side of the optimists. In the most recent issue of the Journal of Political Economy, economists Mark Aguiar of Princeton University and Erik Hurst of the University of Chicago look more closely at how people over 60 spend their money, and they argue that the data show a much bigger shift than most economists recognize from work-related spending to leisure spending. The journal article is rather technical (and costs $8 to $14 to download), but the Economist’s “Free exchange” blog sums it up in an interesting way: As retirees regain control of their time, “time richness, rather than income richness, is what drives changing spending patterns.”

The crash and recession and their aftermath have been tough for the restaurant business, as cash-strapped customers cut back on discretionary expenses wherever they can. Overall, Americans still eat out less often than they did in 2007. But according to a recent, broad analysis of the industry that’s getting some coverage this week from the New York Times’s Eric Nagourney, there’s a bigger demographic shift afoot. While people under 55 are still ratcheting back their spending and choosing leftovers at home over the Macaroni Grill, older baby boomers and retirees are going out more often, not less.

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Boomers are buying; millennials, less so.

The survey, by the market research company NPD Group, came out earlier this year. It found the biggest uptick in restaurant visits among those over 65. They now make an average of 195 restaurant visits per person per year, up about 8% since 2008; that number grew steadily through the recession years. Diners age 55 to 64 make 220 visits a year, up slightly from 2008. But visits are down about 7% among younger boomers, and down 12% among adults under 47.

About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.